Tag: Hugh Laurie

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December 13, 2008 – Hugh Laurie / Kanye West (S34 E11)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

BLAGOJEVICH HEARING
profane Rod Blagojevich (JAS) asks U.S. Senate for a personal bailout

— (*groan*) Boy, am I getting tired of the overuse of the C-SPAN framing device for this season’s cold openings and sketches. It smacks of laziness to me on Jim Downey’s part.
— Funny initial visual of Jason in that Rod Blagojevich wig, and I got a laugh from his bleeped-out intro statement.
— Funny line from Casey’s Elizabeth Dole about Blagojevich being a disgrace to any other state besides Illinois.
— Great to see Bill’s hilarious Robert Byrd impression back. By the way, this sadly ends up being Bill’s ONLY appearance all night.
— Some of the bleeps of Jason-as-Blagojevich’s expletives are timed a little awkwardly (and at one point, accidentally gives away the fact that Jason says “frick” in place of the actual f-word), which is guess is to be expected for a live sketch. Probably the reason why a bleep-filled Rahm Emanuel sketch that Andy does the following season is pre-taped in advance.
— I love Will’s incredulous delivery of “You want the…government to pay you extortion money……..in return for not burning down the U.S. Capitol Building????”
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host avoids music royalties with a medley of Christmas song snippets

— Among his many thanks at the beginning of this, Hugh Laurie thanks “Sweetcheeks”, as a nice little callback to his previous SNL monologue, in which he named the collective audience Sweetcheeks while lovingly addressing them. I wonder how many audience members in tonight’s episode got the reference.
— After how fantastic Hugh’s previous monologue was, I’m looking forward to this.
— Hugh calling 2008 a bad year and saying it had so many downers seems kinda trivial in hindsight, in comparison to our current year (2020, for anyone reading this in the future). Also, I was about to ask, what downers in 2008 are Hugh referring to, because I don’t recall ’08 being known as a bad year, until I just now remembered the financial crisis, which was huge. Are there any other big downers in 2008 Hugh was referring to?
— Very funny bit with Hugh giving a tiny chapstick to an audience member as a Christmas gift.
— An okay bit with Hugh singing a medley of Christmas classics that consists only of three-second snippets of each song, so SNL won’t have to pay royalties. Something seems kinda cliched about that gag, but Hugh’s making it work.
STARS: ****


BRONX BEAT WITH BETTY & JODI
British butcher’s (host) accent makes Betty & Jodi flirty

— Another Maya Rudolph cameo this season. A planned Bronx Beat sketch actually got scrapped from the last episode Maya cameoed in earlier this season, the Jon Hamm episode, due to a then-pregnant Amy going into labor and giving birth hours before the live show.
— This is the final Bronx Beat installment with either Amy or Maya still in the SNL cast, as tonight is Amy’s final episode as a cast member, which is presumably the reason SNL brought this sketch back tonight. (This sketch would continue to make occasional appearances after this, when either Amy or Maya are hosting SNL.) Speaking of which, this sketch also has the distinction of appearing in Maya and Amy’s respective final episode as a cast member.
— Good part with Amy and Maya eagerly making Hugh say British versions of American words.
— Amy’s character, in regards to her and Maya’s character: “I wish we had accents.”
— A particularly great and raunchy part with Amy and Maya asking Hugh what his favorite meat body part is. Amy and Maya’s characters seem even hornier than usual tonight, which is certainly saying something.
STARS: ****


DYSFUNCTIONAL CHRISTMAS DINNER
(JAS), (host), (CAW), (WLF), (KRW) are on hair triggers at holiday dinner

— Here’s a sketch I’ve always had very fond memories of, and has (rightfully) been played in many SNL Christmas compilation specials.
— The performers are doing such a great job conveying the tenseness of this dinner.
— The “Anyone need more wine?” “YES!” bit is very funny.
— I’m enjoying the running gag throughout this sketch with everybody yelling “Sit down, Judith!” whenever Kristen angrily gets up to leave. During one of those “Sit down, Judith!” sequences, I particularly love how Jason yells “CHAIR, BUTT, NOW!”
— Hugh’s sudden “DAMMIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!” outburst absolutely SLAYS me every time I watch this sketch.
— Funny sudden turn with Hugh’s random, tender singing of “Silent Night”, and how he’s eventually joined in by everyone else.
STARS: ****½


WEDDING TOAST
wedding reception emcee (JAS) can’t stem the flow of unwanted toasters

— This is the first edition of this series of wedding/funeral speech sketches, featuring the same cast of oddball characters.
— Great to see Jason so prominent in tonight’s episode so far, especially given how little he had been appearing the last few episodes prior to this. In fact, he didn’t appear in the preceding week’s John Malkovich-hosted episode AT ALL. Speaking of which, I remember it was pointed out by some online SNL fans back at this time in 2008 that Jason looks really sullen during the goodnights of the episode I’m currently reviewing. It would be revealed not too long after this episode’s original airing that Jason was going through a rough divorce at this time, which perhaps explains his unhappy demeanor in this episode’s goodnights. I also used to think it explained his aforementioned absence in the Malkovich episode, as I assumed maybe Jason asked Lorne for a week off so he can deal with the personal hardships he was going through in regards to his divorce, but when watching and reviewing that Malkovich episode yesterday, I was surprised to notice that not only could Jason be seen during that episode’s goodnights despite his mysterious absence from the show itself, he was also all smiles in those goodnights, looking like he was in an upbeat mood. For anyone who’s seen the James Franco-made behind-the-scenes documentary on that Malkovich episode, was Jason shown in it? Was he in any of the sketches that got cut from the live show? Thanks in advance.
— I love Hugh’s very dry voice in this sketch.
— I see that both Fred and Kristen are, separately, playing characters that have a look that’s very quintessential of typical Armisen and Wiig characters. That’s not a bad thing to me in this particular sketch’s case, as I’m enjoying Fred and Kristen’s characters here.
— Bobby steals this sketch with his very random “(*grabs mic*) WHAAAAAAAT?!? (*drops mic in a badass manner*)” bit.
— Jason’s a great frustrated straight man.
— Oh, we now get the debut of Will’s racist, anti-Obama character, Hamilton, probably my favorite aspect of this series of wedding/funeral speech sketches. He even eventually gets spun off into his own sketches in season 35.
— Once again, Will is excellent at pulling off ballsy, touchy humor.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Love Lockdown”


WEEKEND UPDATE
David Paterson (FRA) gives criteria for senator replacement candidates

incredulous SEM & AMP say “Really!?!” to Rod Blagojevich’s obstinance

wandering David Paterson (FRA) interrupts AMP’s emotional valedictory

— The final Weekend Update of the Amy Poehler era.
— The debut of Fred’s David Paterson impression. Judging from things I’ve read in the comments section of some of my recent reviews, I take it these David Paterson commentaries are not looked back on fondly by most SNL fans nowadays. I personally recall really liking the first few Paterson commentaries (before they got run into the ground, in typical Fred Armisen fashion) back when they originally aired, so we’ll see how these Paterson commentaries hold up for me after all these years.
— Lots of cheap blind jokes so far in tonight’s Paterson commentary, though I’m enjoying Fred’s performance.
— Seth, to Fred’s David Paterson: “Governor, what do you have against New Jersey?” Paterson: “Unfortunately, a southern border.” I feel like I should be ashamed for laughing so much at that.
— Fred’s Paterson got yet another laugh from me just now, by saying his crazy life is the plot of a Richard Pryor movie.
— There goes our obligatory instance of a blind Fred Armisen wandering around lost in front of the camera, blocking the person speaking to the camera. That routine is still making me chuckle, but I found it funnier when Fred previously did it as his blind stand-up comedian character, Pep Walters.
— Great to see a “Really?!?” segment in Amy’s final Update.
— Some strong lines from Amy in tonight’s “Really?!?”, especially the bit about how she uses circus tickets as a codename for weed when ordering it over the phone. I also like her delivery of “The first time I saw you, I thought you were walking away”, regarding Rod Blagojevich and his odd hair.
— Ah, now we get a special, tender goodbye message from Amy, acknowledging that this is her final episode. This is actually making my eyes start to tear up a bit, to be honest. The nature of this SNL project of mine, with me doing daily reviews in chronological order, gets me so attached to certain SNL cast members, much moreso than I had ever been before. I also feel like it was just yesterday when I reviewed Amy’s very first episode (Reese Witherspoon/Alicia Keys from season 27), which is part of why it now feels very emotional for me to see Amy’s goodbye message. Doing this SNL project is such an interesting ride for me.
— Right in the middle of Amy’s tender goodbye message, we get ANOTHER sudden interruption from Fred’s wandering Paterson again blocking the camera. I admit, that bit is actually working more for me here than it did earlier in this Update. I especially like how, while blocking the camera, Fred’s Paterson orders $50 worth of “circus tickets” over the phone, as a callback to something Amy said during the “Really?!?” segment in tonight’s Update.
— It’s interesting how, in each of the two episodes Amy appeared in after her maternity leave (the preceding week’s John Malkovich episode and tonight’s episode), she only appeared in one sketch and Weekend Update. You’d figure SNL would instead be utilizing Amy more than ever in her final two episodes as a cast member, as SNL often tends to do for veteran cast members when they’re about to leave. I feel like Amy’s small amount of appearances in her final two episodes was a conscious decision on her part, as this was probably her way of willingly phasing herself out of the show, and she also probably didn’t want to step on the toes of the two women who were added to the cast during her maternity leave (Abby and Michaela). If that’s true, then I appreciate that classy move of Amy’s. It could’ve been interesting, though, seeing her interact with the new girls in a sketch. I can’t imagine how surreal it would’ve felt seeing Amy and Michaela side-by-side in a sketch.
STARS: ***½


LAMPS
musical features luminaires that sing, dance, take hostages

— Hmm, not too sure about this premise.
— I like Andy’s exaggerated delivery of “THIS IS WHAT’S…HAPPENING…SHARON!” What was with the odd long pause afterwards, though, before the camera cut to an exterior shot of the store?
— After a scene transition, the camera accidentally catches Michaela tying a gag over her own mouth, when we’re supposed to believe the lamps were the ones who tied the gag over Michaela’s mouth.
— Meh, I’m not caring for this sketch. Not even the part with Will’s grandfather clock character suddenly getting shot did anything for me.
— Very lame twist ending, with this turning out to be a preview for a Broadway play.
STARS: *½


THE CAT’S CHRISTMAS LETTER
(KRW) dictates a holiday letter in the voice of the dead family cat

— Pretty funny when Kristen clarifies to Hugh that the pun word “purrrrrrr-sonal” has to be typed with seven ‘r’s.
— I like Hugh questioning why Kristen is writing a Christmas letter from a dead cat. I also like Kristen responding to Hugh’s unhappiness over that by telling him a stern, deadpan “Tough tacos.”
— Some good tension between Kristen and an uncooperative Hugh throughout this sketch.
— Blah, I didn’t like that corny “I’ll make wuv to you” ending. Second consecutive sketch tonight with a lousy ending.
STARS: ***


COOKIES
at a somber company meeting, (FRA) can’t stop snacking

— In each of the last two Christmas episodes prior to this, we got an absolutely epic, legendary, and viral music video Digital Short: Lazy Sunday in season 31’s Christmas episode, and Dick In A Box in season 32’s Christmas episode. (Season 33 didn’t have a Christmas episode, due to the writers’ strike.) So how does Lonely Island continue that tradition in tonight’s Christmas episode? By having the Digital Short be a very unassuming, forgettable, no-reason-to-be-pre-taped, throwaway, non-music video short starring Fred playing a mincing gay man, a tired archetype that Fred’s already played to death prior to this. Really, Lonely Island? Perhaps they should’ve saved their fantastic Jizz In My Pants short from the preceding episode for tonight’s episode instead. Jizz In My Pants would’ve continued the “every Christmas episode has an epic music video Digital Short” tradition nicely.
— I’m now two minutes into this short, and, man, I’m finding this insufferable. (*sigh*) You know, I gotta say, stuff like this short and that awful Boy George commentary Fred did on Weekend Update in the preceding episode make me kinda understand why some people feel THIS season is when Fred’s infamous decline started, a viewpoint I had always disagreed with in the past. (Now that I think about how the remainder of this season goes, Fred does have some more awful stuff coming up later this season, including some painfully unfunny Bernie Madoff pieces.) However, I personally still say his decline doesn’t hit FULL SWING until season 35 (one of several things I’m kinda dreading about that season as we get closer and closer to it in this SNL project of mine). As I said in a somewhat recent episode review, I now consider seasons 32-34 to be Fred’s very hit-and-miss “Something unfortunate is looming ahead” years. His decline as a cast member is so gradual that it’s kinda hard for me to pinpoint when exactly it started, but, yeah, I still feel by this point in season 34 that he still has enough good stuff that somewhat balances out his bad stuff. And, again, it’s not until season 35 when I feel that the really bad, annoying, anger-inducing stuff becomes Fred’s almost-entire output. So, in other words, if you already haven’t been liking Fred by this point in season 34, things sadly get EVEN WORSE in his subsequent seasons.
— Kenan makes his ONLY appearance of the entire night in a small walk-on at the end of this 10-to-1 pre-taped Digital Short, meaning he makes no live appearances tonight.
— I admit to getting a cheap laugh from the reveal that the cookies Fred has been stuffing into his mouth all throughout this short are actually laxatives.
— Funny bit at the very end where, right before the screen cuts to black, Jason, after giving it some thought, reaches for a cookie, despite having just learned that those cookies are laxatives.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Heartless”


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An episode with a good first half, but a very forgettable second half. Overall, not one of SNL’s more memorable Christmas episodes, nor one of their more memorable season 34 episodes, but still not too bad an episode as a whole. This sure pales in comparison to Hugh Laurie’s first episode, though. I also wasn’t too crazy about some of the roles SNL utilized Hugh in tonight.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Dysfunctional Christmas Dinner
Monologue
Bronx Beat with Betty & Jodi
Wedding Toast
Weekend Update
The Cat’s Christmas Letter
Blagojevich Hearing
Cookies
Lamps


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (John Malkovich)
a big step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
We enter the year 2009, with host Neil Patrick Harris

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October 28, 2006 – Hugh Laurie / Beck (S32 E4)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

KAZAKHSTAN MINISTRY OF INFORMATION
Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen) promotes Kazakhstan during paid announcement

— A message from Lorne? I see we’re already starting off with something different.
— A laugh from Lorne taking the time to pour himself a drink while telling us about the drastic budget cuts NBC has had to make lately.
— Right before Lorne is handed his sandwich by someone, the audience suddenly breaks out into WILD applause out of nowhere. This is presumably because off-camera, a certain special guest who we’re about to see onscreen was spotted by the audience (the set he’s standing at was probably lit up at this point), but I remember a lot of online SNL fans back at this time in 2006 speculating if the applause was for the person who handed Lorne his sandwich, a person who is mostly off-camera, except for their hand holding the plate with the sandwich. Some of those SNL fans not only wondered if that person handing Lorne the sandwich was a famous person, but they even assumed it might’ve been the recently-departed-from-the-show Tina Fey, because, upon being given his sandwich, Lorne says what sounds like “Thank you, Tina!” (it’s hard to tell what name Lorne is saying under all the wild applause from the audience). Pretty silly to think Tina Fey would make such a brief, off-camera “cameo” in which the only thing we can see of her onscreen is her hand. That would be probably the oddest form of a cameo in SNL history, though you have to admit, it IS amusing to imagine Tina Fey making a hand cameo. Coincidentally, we actually do end up getting a Tina Fey cameo (and a certain other SNL alum/30 Rock cast member) in the monologue of the very next episode.
— An unintentional laugh from Lorne’s genuine difficulty in pronouncing “Kazakhstan”. Charming to see Lorne make a gaffe like that.
— And now we see who the audience was wildly applauding for earlier: Borat!
— The “human pubis” that Borat displays is hilarious, as is him saying “This bale took over three women to make.”
— I’m getting so much of the usual “oh, so wrong” laughs at Borat’s juvenile-and-offensive-but-funny comedy.
— I like the Wayne’s World reference with Borat occasionally saying “Shwing?”
— Borat even manages to make his “Live from New York…” funny, by throwing in “home of the Jew”.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
host tells how he’s unlike House & says what to expect from an Englishman

— A big gaffe right at the beginning, in which SNL’s fake applause track accidentally continues to play long after the real audience has stopped applauding and long after Hugh Laurie has begun speaking. I really don’t understand SNL’s need to use a fake applause track during the opening montage, and this gaffe tonight should’ve led to SNL finally stopping their usage of it, but nope. They continue to use it to this day, I believe.
— I love Hugh naming the audience collectively “Sweetcheeks”.
— Hugh, in one of the many things he says he is: “I’m the yelp of a puppy freed from the microwave.”
— I am absolutely LOVING this monologue. Not only are there lots of funny lines, but Hugh is handling this so damn well, with tons of charm, expertise, and genuine funniness.
— Great ad-lib from Hugh after his Shakespeare joke doesn’t go over well with the audience.
STARS: ****½


MOST HAUNTED
(host)’s flatus is mistaken for sign of paranormal activity

— The use of infrared night-vision is interesting and unique for a live SNL sketch.
— A fart sketch? And as the lead-off sketch of the night?!? I do recall this actually being surprisingly not bad for a fart sketch, though.
— So far, while this is not quite as good as I had remembered, it’s still working decently for something with such a sophomoric premise. What makes this sketch work is how overly seriously Fred, Amy, and Bill are taking the “mysterious sound”, how ridiculously heavily they’re analyzing it, and how embarrassed Hugh is over all of this.
— The ending with a ghost’s voice actually saying “Juliaaaan” (as a callback to Fred, Amy, and Bill mistaking the sound of Hugh’s fart for a voice saying a stretched-out “Julian”) didn’t work for me.
STARS: ***


TV FUNHOUSE
by RBS- George W. Bush downplays scare tactics of GOP’s negative TV spots

— Our first TV Funhouse of the season.
— Blah, the Bush intro at the beginning appears to be using the same odd animation style that was used in the TV Funhouse from the season 30 Luke Wilson episode, an animation style that I hated (and it didn’t help matters any that that particular TV Funhouse itself was a dud).
— Luckily, most of this cartoon isn’t focusing on the badly-animated Bush scenes.
— Good political satire in the gay marriage/“Count Obama” ad.
— The Hillary Clinton ad made me laugh out loud. The ridiculous voice used for her made it even funnier.
— This cartoon is over already? This felt unusually short, and it seemed like we were meant to see a third political attack ad instead of just two.
STARS: ***½


NATIONAL ANTHEM
at the World Series, (MAR) renders National Anthem nearly unrecognizable

— A very well-known Maya Rudolph sketch.
— I used to pretty much HATE this sketch and find it insanely overrated, but that was also back in the days when I had a seething dislike for Maya Rudolph in general, and thus, I just dismissed this sketch as both “Another bad Maya Rudolph singing sketch” and “Another bad Maya-Rudolph-does-a-goofy-voice sketch”. Now that I’m older, more mature, and try to be more critically fair in my assessments of SNL than I was in my original days as an SNL reviewer back in the 2000s and early 2010s, I’ve become more appreciative of Maya’s comedic talents, and thus, I can recognize this sketch’s value. While I’m still certainly not finding it to be a classic like a lot of people seemingly do, I’m enjoying this sketch a lot, and I’m finding Maya’s many different bad singing styles for each individual verse of the National Anthem not only amusing and fun, but actually impressive, and a good spoof of the overwrought way certain singers butcher the National Anthem when trying to show off their vocal range.
STARS: ****


PROMO

— Bizarrely and inexplicably, Don Pardo announces that the next live episode is airing “on MONDAY, November 11”, despite that date being, of course, a Saturday. All I have to say is, boy, is Don getting old.


ADVANCE MAN
equerry (host) requisitions oddities for Queen Elizabeth’s hotel stay

— When failing in his attempt to apply his glasses onto his face with one hand, Hugh ad-libs a witty “Fortunately, these are just an affectation”, and does away with the glasses. And showing what a true pro she is, Kristen perfectly keeps a straight face during this funny ad-lib.
— I am absolutely LOVING the absurd British, Monty Python-ish comedy style of this sketch, which Hugh Laurie is obviously a natural for. His delivery of these lines about Queen Elizabeth’s very eccentric requests is a riot.
— I love Hugh responding to Kristen’s “Will you be here when she (the Queen) arrives?” question with an “Absolutely not” before making his exit.
STARS: ****½


HARDBALL WITH CHRIS MATTHEWS
Ken Mehlman (ANS) & Howard Dean (JAS) forsee GOP midterm defeat

— Our first Hardball sketch in almost an entire year.
— Darrell’s Chris Matthews impression seems a little more toned down and serious tonight.
— I think that’s SNL producer Ken Aymong as Glenn Beasley in the various photos.
— So far, this feels very different from typical Hardball sketches. They’ve shaken up the format, which is much needed, after how stale the last few Hardball sketches before this were.
— Darrell is a stumbly mess throughout this sketch. He can barely get a line out without flubbing it.
— Jason’s Howard Dean challenging Andy’s Ken Mehlman to a fistfight is making me laugh.
— While I’m enjoying the dialogue and humor here, the pacing and energy of this whole sketch feels off, which is hurting this.
STARS: **½


PROTEST SONG
host performs a protest song that mumbles answers to the world’s problems

— Ooh, I like the setting of this. Feels like a throwback to earlier SNL seasons, where a performer doing a comedy bit on SNL’s home base stage was much more common, outside of monologues.
— I recall finding out this is an old bit that Hugh brought to SNL from his comedy act. It’s coming off solid here, and a very nice change of pace for an SNL piece in this era.
— Some nice camera angles throughout this that show both Hugh and the audience.
— I particularly love the part with Hugh desperately resorting to a harmonica solo during one of his many avoidances of saying what the answer is.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Nausea”


WEEKEND UPDATE
senatorial candidate Tim Calhoun offers qualifications & proposals

New Jerseyite same-sex couple (FRA) & (BIH) endorses gay marriage ruling

— I’m starting to question just how much Amy has “improved” as an Update anchor so far in this Poehler/Meyers era, because I’ve been noticing that she’s still using the same annoyingly cutesy, cheesy delivery she used during the Fey/Poehler era, and her jokes are just as cringey as they were back then. Seth, on the other hand, has been absolutely solid and sharp as an anchor so far, and he has by far the better jokes of the two anchors. Despite their always-great chemistry when interacting with each other, Seth and Amy’s individual Update delivery styles are kind of an odd mish-mash with each other so far. Maybe Amy eventually gets better, because I recall feeling she was decent when the Poehler/Meyers era of Update originally aired.
— Tim Calhoun!
— I love the similarities Tim Calhoun says he has to America: he’s heavily in debt, he’s 10% gay, and he has a really bad gas problem.
— A particularly hilarious Tim Calhoun confession right now (and remember that this is when the Mark Foley/teenage pages scandal was going on): “I have touched many pages in my life……..because I am a voracious reader……..of child pornography……..studies……..illustrated studies.”
— My god, Calhoun is even funnier than ever tonight, which I didn’t think was possible. I am being DESTROYED with laughter here.
— I’ll give Amy credit for her good delivery of the Panama Canal Widening joke. Despite my criticism of how the quality of her delivery and jokes has mostly been unchanged from the Fey/Poehler era, Amy has some occasional winners.
— The debut of Bill and Fred’s Same-Sex New Jersey Couple. (*groan*) How do you follow up a killer Tim Calhoun commentary with THIS?
— So far in tonight’s Same-Sex New Jersey Couple commentary, I am liking Bill’s delivery (and he’s always great at delivering wiseguy-esque “Ohhhhh!”s), but otherwise, this is just as weak as I had remembered these characters being back when this SNL era originally aired.
— Ha, I love Seth ad-libbing a callback to the Same-Sex New Jersey Couple commentary from earlier in this Update, by improvising a quiet “Ohhhh!” after the punchline of his gay marriage/St. Louis Cardinals joke.
STARS: ***


TRUST YOUR PHYSICIAN
broken leg sufferer’s (KET) distrust of doctor (WLF) impedes treatment

— Kenan makes his first and ONLY appearance of the night here. So far this season, I feel like he’s been kinda struggling to fit into this season’s shortened cast, especially now that he’s the only black male cast member left.
— That fucking horrible sketch with John C. Reilly in drag in the preceding episode makes me initially worried seeing Hugh Laurie in drag here.
— Interesting role for Kenan, which feels out of the ordinary from the way he’s typically used in these earlier seasons of his SNL tenure.
— Hugh is actually really funny in this drag role, further proving how great of a performer he is.
— While I’m getting some laughs and am enjoying all of the interplay between Kenan and Hugh, this sketch is kinda hard for me to figure.
— There’s been quite a number of sketches this season so far that have ended with a character breaking the fourth wall and delivering a message to the camera.
STARS: **½


THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN
snide Frankenstein (BIH) hides his identity from confused villagers

— A very solid role for Bill, and SNL allowing him to deservedly carry a sketch in the lead role feels somewhat rare at this point of his SNL tenure.
— I love both Bill and Jason playing relatable, realistic personifications of Frankenstein and Dracula, respectively, with Bill’s characterization being snarky and Jason’s characterization being laid-back and smug (nice detail with the latter nonchalantly filing his nails while the angry mob is questioning him).
— I like the way Bill’s Frankenstein keeps sternly telling one of the people in the angry mob to get that fiery torch away from him.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Clap Hands”


JOB INTERVIEW
(host) & (FRA) squeal “Ooh!” while interviewing (AMP) for a law firm job

— The slow build-up to Hugh and Fred’s first “ooooOOOOOoooooh!” is good.
— I really like how this silly “ooooOOOOOoooooh!” routine feels like something Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz would’ve done together in the late 80s SNL era. In fact, this sketch feels like a spiritual successor to a sketch that Dana and Jon did do together once: a fun, silly sketch from the season 15 Robert Wagner episode (an episode filled with fun, silly sketches that are really strong) where Dana, Jon, and Robert Wagner were professionals on a political roundtable show, and Dana and Jon each kept making high-pitched, childlike bragging noises whenever one would one-up the other during their debate.
— I like Hugh and Fred quietly starting an “oooooo–” and holding it for a long time while anxiously waiting for Amy to deliver one particular answer.
— Decent turn with Hugh and Fred having a displeased reaction to Amy doing the “ooooOOOOOoooooh!” thing herself, leading to her not getting the job after all.
— The show is seemingly starting to run a little long, as this sketch suddenly fades to an SNL bumper photo of Hugh a tad early while Hugh and Fred are still delivering the final exchange of the sketch.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very solid episode, and a complete turnaround from that wretched preceding episode with John C. Reilly. I liked almost every single sketch tonight, and even the few I didn’t care for were nothing terrible. Tonight had a lot of strong highlights, and the show as a whole had a fun vibe. Hugh Laurie was also a fantastic host, no doubt due to all of his comedy experience in his career, and he added to the aforementioned fun vibe of this episode. Another big positive in this episode was SNL favorite Beck, who’s musical performances tonight (particularly the second one) were outstanding.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (John C. Reilly)
a huge step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Well, as I already gave away earlier in this review…